Anon Morg 1^III

Hefka opt — enn ævi
ák fljóðs lofa góða —
ennileiptr af unnar
eldspǫng degi lǫngum.

Hefka opt {ennileiptr} af {{unnar eld}spǫng} lǫngum degi; enn ák lofa góða ævi fljóðs.

I do not often raise [my] {forehead lightning} [EYE] from {the shard {of the fire of the wave}} [(lit. ‘the fire-shard of the wave’) GOLD > WOMAN] the live-long day; yet I must praise the good life of the woman.

Mss: W(169) (SnE); 2368ˣ(97), 743ˣ(76r) (LaufE)

Editions: Skj AI, 590, Skj BI, 590, Skald I, 288, NN §2809; SnE 1848-87, II, 499, W 1924, 112; LaufE 1979, 354.

Context: This helmingr is quoted among stanzas that are extant only in ms. W of SnE (Skm) to illustrate kennings for the eyes. It is introduced there by the statement: Svá segir í Morginsól ‘Thus it says in Morginsól’ (so also 2368ˣ).

Notes: [All]: The poem’s title, Morginsól ‘Morning Sun’, may well be a metaphor for the beautiful woman the poet loves. Alternatively, it is possible that images comparing the woman to heavenly bodies and weather phenomena may have been a special feature of the poem. Too little of it survives to allow us to comprehend the semantic force of the title. — [1] hefka ‘I do not raise’: With Kock (NN §2809) understood as the 1st pers. sg. pres. indic. of hefja ‘to raise, lift’ with suffixed negative particle -a, rather than the 1st pers. sg. pres. indic. of hafa ‘to have’ (so Skj B). — [1] enn ‘yet’: Finnur Jónsson understands W’s ‘enn’ as = en ‘but, and’. This edn, with Kock (Skald), understands an intercalary clause which is contrastive in sense from that of the main statement of the helmingr; the poet cannot keep his eyes off the woman, yet he acknowledges that she leads a good life, i.e. she is not being sexually provocative but cannot avoid attracting men’s attention because she is so beautiful.

References

1. Bibliography
2. Skj B = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1912-15b. Den norsk-islandske skjaldedigtning. B: Rettet tekst. 2 vols. Copenhagen: Villadsen & Christensen. Rpt. 1973. Copenhagen: Rosenkilde & Bagger.
3. SnE 1848-87 = Snorri Sturluson. 1848-87. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Edda Snorronis Sturlaei. Ed. Jón Sigurðsson et al. 3 vols. Copenhagen: Legatum Arnamagnaeanum. Rpt. Osnabrück: Zeller, 1966.
4. Skald = Kock, Ernst Albin, ed. 1946-50. Den norsk-isländska skaldediktningen. 2 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
5. NN = Kock, Ernst Albin. 1923-44. Notationes Norrœnæ: Anteckningar till Edda och skaldediktning. Lunds Universitets årsskrift new ser. 1. 28 vols. Lund: Gleerup.
6. LaufE 1979 = Faulkes, Anthony, ed. 1979. Edda Magnúsar Ólafssonar (Laufás Edda). RSÁM 13. Vol. I of Two Versions of Snorra Edda from the 17th Century. Reykjavík: Stofnun Árna Magnússonar, 1977-9.
7. W 1924 = Finnur Jónsson, ed. 1924. Edda Snorra Sturlusonar: Codex Wormianus AM 242, fol. Copenhagen and Kristiania (Oslo): Gyldendal.
8. Internal references
9. Edith Marold 2017, ‘Snorra Edda (Prologue, Gylfaginning, Skáldskaparmál)’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols [check printed volume for citation].
10. (forthcoming), ‘ Snorri Sturluson, Skáldskaparmál’ in Kari Ellen Gade and Edith Marold (eds), Poetry from Treatises on Poetics. Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages 3. Turnhout: Brepols, p. . <https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=text&i=112> (accessed 5 May 2024)